Critical Book Review - People Buy You by Jeb Blount

Books on how to increase sales probably top in quantity of any business genre. For without revenue businesses or organizations cannot make payroll, pay their vendors, ensure fixed costs are covered while still having enough monetary reserves or profits.

Having been in sales for 30 plus years, I have always believed that who you are as an individual comes first before who you as a salesperson. In this book, People Buy You, Jeb really takes that belief and makes it very real as well as practical.

His common sense writing approach intermixed with personal stories reinforces that successful selling begins and ends with the authenticity of the individual. Using a variety of historical to contemporary resources, he weaves a very simple and yet compelling argument about what sales is not about selling, but far more about buying. The first product or service your potential customer buys is you.

After dispelling several well known myths about selling, he shares these five (5) levers with the reader:

Be likable Connect Solve problems Build trust Create positive emotional experiences

Each of these levers are discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters.

What was incredibly interesting and very insightful was the over nine pages devoted just to the importance of smiling. In most other sales training coaching books, the reader would have been exposed to specific selling skills such as making a great case, asking open questions and let us not forget how to close the deal.

Blount pulls no punches in sharing his experience and freely admits to making some terrible mistakes. From these lessons learned, his premise about you being the most important factor in the buying decision making process is consistently supported and reinforced.

Another accepted behavior within the marketing phase of the overall sales process is the concept of establishing rapport. Blount suggests that this in its rawest form is pure manipulation. Maybe that is why I have always preferred building a mutually agreeable and beneficial relationship.

He discusses this is great detail in Chapter 7 where he showcases the importance of creating positive emotional experiences. I especially enjoyed his statement that has been said by many others that "It don't cost nuthin to be nice." Poor grammar and spelling aside, this is so very true. Sales Training Coaching Tip: My You can get more with honey than you can with vinegar.

The first seven chapters all lead up to the final chapter and that is devoted to your own brand. So if you want to be the Red Jacket, to stand out in the crowd, then this is a must book to be included in your professional development plan.

What Makes a Successful IT Consultant

So you’ve decided to go out on your own as an IT consultant? Perhaps you want to be your own boss, work when you want, and of course there’s the money. You’ve got the skills and experience to do the job. Is that all you need? Not quite!

The scary thing is now you have to go out and find some clients. You may belong to an agency that supplies consultants, but you’ve still got to persuade the client that you’re the best man or woman for the job.

A business relationship between a consultant and a client is like any other relationship – it needs to be based on trust. To achieve this you need to build rapport with the client: smile, be friendly and professional, and show him or her that you can achieve their business goals in the timeframe required.

Never take on work you don’t have the skills for, and don’t take on too much work at one time. If you say you are equal to the job, you must be able to complete the project in the required time and with the highest quality. If you find you can’t do this, once you’ve started a project, you may need to subcontract someone to help you. Clients want results, not excuses.

Also make sure the project specification is absolutely clear and unambiguous. If you have any doubts, ALWAYS ASK. Both you and the client should sign it.

If the client changes the scope of the project, you are entitled to change the deadline and charge more for your services.

An IT consultant needs to be a good communicator. You should have excellent communications channels with the client to identify any unforeseen problems as soon as possible, to avoid delays in project completion. Perhaps there’s a hardware or software problem that isn’t your fault – you need to alert the client.

To be successful as a consultant you need regular cash flow. To achieve this you need to have a number of projects at different stages. Some clients take longer to pay you than others. If they take too long to pay you, seek legal advice.

You also need to understand any contract that you’re going to sign, as it is legally binding. Read it carefully. If you don’t fully understand it, seek legal advice before signing.

Don’t overcharge or undercharge clients. Undercharging is bad for you and the industry. Find out what other consultants are charging by checking their websites.

Get a good accountant. Ask your friends and associates if they can recommend anyone. An accountant can assist you with good recordkeeping, making sure you claim on your tax return everything you’re legally entitled to claim for, and GST. Remember, if you earn more than $50,000 dollars per year, you MUST charge GST.

You must also have an ABN to operate as a business. To apply for an ABN go to [http://www.abr.gov.au/ABR_BC/].

If you don’t have a website, build one. You’re an IT professional! Look at adapting your current site to your business.

Consultants need to be proactive. Software is changing all the time and you need to keep up to speed with it. Do relevant courses; attend conferences. You can claim theses costs on your tax return. A proactive consultant is a competitive consultant!

Greg Fitzgerald

[http://www.getsomebodynow.com.au]